Majestic crystal

This is very big snowflake, approximately 8 millimeters from tip to tip. It is bigger than these two large snowflakes of same type: Silverware / Neon and Cloud number nine:

This is fernlike dendrite snow crystal. This type can be seen often, and usually these crystals bigger than snowflakes of other types. I have seen crystals slightly bigger than 1 centimeter from tip to tip! These snowflakes can be seen by naked eye in full details, especially on contrast dark backdrop. These snowflakes reminds stellar dendrites, but have more complex and "random" structure: they have more "side branches" and "leaves", and they grows with not too strict symmetry.

Also, these crystals are fragile: their branches are big, but central hexagon is small, compared to other snow crystals. Often they can be seen with lost arms, and it seems that they can broke in air, before they fall, when they grow big enough.

If you ever seen one fernlike dendrite crystal, you have seen them all: their "general design" is the same for every snowflake of this type, though they are all different in details.

8 identical shots was averaged to boost signal-to-noise ratio of this image. Crystal captured on glass surface with LED back light, using Canon Powershot A650is with additional lens Helios 44M-5, in January 2013, Moscow.